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Britain made the mess and should help sort it out
Scores of people squeezed into Sarum College, Salisbury, to hear from experts on the Balfour Declaration of 1917 which gave British support to a home for Jews in historical Palestine. The Very Reverend Nicholas Frayling said the declaration was the … Continue reading
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Palestine during the British Mandate: Competing Narratives
By Dr Peter Shambrook This talk was given at the recent conference: Britain and Palestine – past history and future role organised by Sarum Concern for Israel/Palestine Salisbury Saturday 13 February 2016 Two preliminary thoughts, to share with you, … Continue reading
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Britain and Palestine: past history & future role
Held at St Chad’s College Durham 31st October 2015 Summary Report Seventy people from places as far apart as Omagh, Norwich, Somerset, Inverness, Salisbury and Edinburgh, spent Saturday 31st October in Durham reflecting on Britain’s responsibilities, past and present, for … Continue reading
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Concluding remarks at Balfour Project meeting in Durham by Nicholas Frayling
Concluding remarks at Balfour Project meeting in Durham – 31.10.2015 by the Very Rev Nicholas Frayling One of the questions we as members of the BP are often asked is: ‘Why didn’t I know about this?’ Today, even those who … Continue reading
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Talk by Sir Vincent Fean, recently retired UK Consul General in Jerusalem, at the Balfour Project annual conference
St Chad’s College, Durham University, 31 October 2015 ‘I believe there is a constructive role for the UK in bringing about a just peace. It is good to look back in order to look forward. The Balfour Declaration helped bring … Continue reading
Balfour 1922-23: Fragile commitment and Zionist Response
By Dr William M Mathew Paper given at Balfour Project Annual Conference St. Chad`s College, University of Durham, 31 October 2015 In the limited time available I should like to make three basic points around this specific issue of fragility … Continue reading
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The McMahon-Hussein Correspondence revisited. A lapse into clarity.
By Dr Peter Shambrook Paper given at the Balfour Project conference, Britain and Palestine: past history & future role, Durham, Oct 31st 2015 Abstract The origins of the McMahon-Hussein Correspondence – and the subsequent official interpretations, and the controversies surrounding … Continue reading
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The Companion Guide to our film ‘Britain in Palestine 1917-1948’
The Companion Guide has been professionally written for us, and gives fascinating background to the history introduced in the film. To give you an idea of what is in it see the section on the Balfour Declaration. It has 83 … Continue reading
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Thatcham Festival, The role of Britain in Palestine?
What has been the historic role of Britain that has led to the present day tragic situation in Israel/Palestine? This was the theme engaged with by a very mixed group of over seventy people as part of the Thatcham Festival. … Continue reading
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Britain in Palestine 1917-1948
Click to view post-screening dicussion of this film with Balfour Project Vice-Chair Sir Vincent Fean and Trustee John McHugo Britain in Palestine 1917-1948 investigates the contradictory promises and actions which defined British Mandatory rule in Palestine and laid the … Continue reading
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Tagged 1917, 1948, Anglo-French Declaration, Balfour Declaration, British Mandate, First World War, Lloyd George, McMahon Hussain
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Rescuing Balfour: Winston Churchill at the Colonial Office 1921-22, By William Mathew
Given the sheer improbability of the Balfour Declaration, its source in temporary war-time contingencies, its activation of inter-communal conflict in Palestine, and its exposure to increasing opposition both at home and in the Levant, the 1917 War Cabinet pledge … Continue reading
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Tagged 1921, 1922, Balfour Declaration, British Mandate, League of Nations, McMahon Hussain, Palestine, Palestine Mandate, Weizmann, Zionism
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The Balfour Project comes to the Scottish Parliament
By Claudia Beamish MSP Posted on February 11, 2015 by Claudia The Scottish Parliament recently played host to an exhibit from the Balfour Project on British historic involvement in Palestine. The Project seeks to raise awareness of the Balfour Declaration, an agreement made … Continue reading
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Christian Zionism’s flawed vision of Israel, by Rabbi Dow Marmur
My dictionary defines Zionism as “a movement for the re-establishment of a Jewish national homeland and state in Palestine.” This was realized in May 1948 when the State of Israel was established. Many Jews are Zionists and committed to the … Continue reading
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Tagged Balfour, Balfour Declaration, Christian Zionism, Lloyd George, Palestinians
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‘Britain should be more active in helping resolve Israeli-Palestinian conflict’
Commemorating the 97th Anniversary of the Balfour Declaration Report of Balfour Project conference, Britain in Palestine 1917-1948 in St John’s College, Oxford, Oct 30th 2014. A common theme from speakers at the Balfour Project’s annual event was that Britain’s history … Continue reading
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Tagged 1917, Andy Gosler, Avi Shlaim, Danny Rich, Liz Carmichael, Nicholas Frayling, Vincent Fean
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The McMahon promise to Hussein
By Roger Spooner In 1915 Sir Henry McMahon, British High Commissioner in Egypt, offered Sherif Hussein of Mecca an independent Arab state if he would help the British fight against the Ottoman Turks. Hussein’s interest in throwing off his Turkish … Continue reading
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Tagged 1915, Anglo-French Declaration, British Mandate, Hussein Ibn Ali, Lebanon, McMahon, McMahon Hussain, Middle East, Palestine, Palestine Mandate
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Struggling to Maintain the Mandate’s Iron Cage, 1930 – 1947 by Peter Shambrook
Peter A. Shambrook presents the history of the British Mandate for Palestine in the period 1930-1947, highlighting its very negative outcomes for the Palestinian population. In doing so, Shambrook calls for Britain to accept responsibility for its past wrongdoings as … Continue reading
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Tagged 1930, British Mandate, Churchill, Palestine Mandate, Palestinian Rebellion, Peel Commission, Ramsay MacDonald, Weizmann, Zionism
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Dec 11th 1917, General Allenby shows how a ‘moral man’ conquers Jerusalem
On this day he entered Jerusalem, modestly on foot, two days after the Turks surrendered it, after several attempts. By David B. Green | Dec. 11, 2014 | 3:46 AM from Haaretz In December 11, 1917, General Edmund Allenby, commander … Continue reading
British policy and Arab Displacement in Palestine, 1915-23: Contingency. Imperialism and Double-Dealing
By William M. Mathew, Senior Fellow in History, University of East Anglia Lecture given as part of the Contemporary Middle East Lecture Programme, School of Oriental and African Studies, 28 October 2014 I I should begin by briefly … Continue reading
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Tagged 1922, 1923, Arabs, Balfour Declaration, Hussein Ibn Ali, McMahon, Palestine Mandate, Zionism
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The Balfour Declaration and UK recognition of the Palestinian State….
On Oct 13th 2014 British MPs voted in favour of recognising Palestine as a state alongside Israel. The House of Commons backed the move “as a contribution to securing a negotiated two-state solution” The full motion stated: “That this House … Continue reading
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Tagged 1917, Balfour Declaration, British Mandate, Palestine, Palestine Mandate, Sacred Trust of civilisation
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Sir Harold Nicholson and the Balfour Declaration
From Nick St Aubyn Dunsfold, Surrey Daily Telegraph 13th Oct 2014 SIR – In 1917 my great-uncle, Sir Harold Nicolson, was a private secretary to the foreign secretary at the time of his Balfour Declaration. Nicolson, who was involved in … Continue reading
The Palestine Deception, 1915-1923, by William Mathew
In 2015, historian William Mathew published a book consisting of a series of articles from the Daily Mail of 1923. These presented a hitherto uninformed British readership with details of official promises made to the Arabs in 1915-16 of post-war … Continue reading
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Tagged 1923, Balfour Declaration, British Mandate, McMahon Hussain, Palestine, Sykes Picot, Zionism
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Perfidious Albion: Britain’s broken promises: the Balfour Declaration (1917) and its impact on the Israeli/Palestinian conflict: what are our responsibilities today?
This lecture was given by Professor Mary Grey in the URC Church, Crondall, Northumberland for their Peace and Reconciliation centre, 5th September 2014 Here in Northumberland, it is impossible to forget the bloodshed of the Battle of Flodden in 1513, … Continue reading
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Tagged 1917, 1919, Balfour, Balfour Declaration, George Eliot, Herzl, Lloyd George, Palestine, Palestine Mandate, Shaftesbury, Weizmann, Zionism
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The Balfour Declaration – Key players and events by Mary Grey
Introduction – what motivated the Balfour Declaration? (Download: Powerpoint of Key Players) There is still conflict as to which motive for the Balfour Declaration is stronger – there are at least three motives, and some may interlock:/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/BP.ppt 1. According to … Continue reading
War cabinet minutes leading to the Balfour Declaration, 1917
On November 9th 1917 the Times published the minutes of the 4 War Cabinet meetings where, what became known as the Balfour Declaration, was discussed. They had before them the document produced by the Zionist Organisation on July 18th 1917 … Continue reading
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Tagged 1917, Balfour Declaration, Lloyd George, Lord Curzon, Lord Milner, Montagu, Palestine, Rothschild, War Cabinet Minutes, Zionist movement
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French support for the Zionist cause in 1917
On the 4th June 1917 Jules Cambon, wrote to Nahum Sokolow expressing French support for his project which aimed for ‘Jewish Colonisation in Palestine’ This preceded war cabinet discussions in London which did not start until July 1917 The … Continue reading
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Tagged 1917, Cambon, Colonisation, French support for Zionism, Sokolow
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Contradictory Promises, by Peter A Shambrook
The seeds of 100 years of conflict Britain, the Arabs and the Jews, 1914 – 1918 2014 – 2018: Britain’s opportunity to acknowledge. In 2014, the centenary of the Great War will be marked in a variety of ways right … Continue reading
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Tagged 1915, 1916, 1917, 1918, Anglo-French Declaration, Balfour Declaration, Contact, First World War, McMahon Hussain, Middle East, Peter Shambrook, Sykes Picot
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“Perfidious Albion” The British Legacy in Palestine, by Ilan Pappe
Professor Ilan Pappé’s paper at the Balfour Project conference in October 2013, was entitled “Perfidious Albion” The British Legacy in Palestine. Many participants thought it was very inspiring. He revealed that British involvement in the Middle East and Palestine specifically … Continue reading
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Tagged 19th Century, Christian Zionism, Crusades, Empress Helena, Middle East, millenarianism, Palestine, restorationism, Shaftesbury, Sykes
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“Are we trapped by our own narratives?” by Tony Klug
Tony Klug, speaking at the Balfour Project conference in October 2013 spoke stirringly to the question “Are we trapped by our own narratives?” He began by demonstrating that everyone becomes a player in this seemingly intractable conflict, where what passes … Continue reading
As the Arabs see the Jews, by His Majesty King Abdullah
The American Magazine November, 1947 Summary This appeal to the American people, written by King Abdullah, son of Sharif Hussein and grandfather of the current King of Jordan, appeared in the United States six months before the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. … Continue reading
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Tagged 1947, Arabs, Jew, King Abdullah, League of Nations, Middle East, Palestine, Zionism
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Thought WWI was history? In the Middle East, think again
By Lindsey Hilsum Europeans may think WWI is history, but people in the Arab world are still living with the fury and violence the conflict caused. After the jihadi group, Isis, seized the Iraqi city of Mosul in June, they … Continue reading
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A History of the First World War in 100 Moments: A desert uprising that began in hope but was doomed to end in betrayal
Robert Fisk on the moment the Arabs, trusting in British good faith, turned on their Turkish rulers The Arab Revolt is all about the Arab Betrayal. The blowing up of Turkish trains, the capture of Aqaba, the camel charges and … Continue reading
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Tagged 1915, 1916, 1917, Arab Revolt, Arabs, First World War, Hussein Ibn Ali, Lawrence, McMahon Hussain, Sherif Hussein, Sykes Picot
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Debating Palestine and Israel – Book review by Jeremy Moodey
Dan Cohn-Sherbok and Mary Grey, Debating Israel and Palestine, (Exeter, Impress Books, 2014). It was George Orwell who wrote in his book 1984, “Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past.” As with the … Continue reading
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Tagged 19th Century, Balfour Declaration, British Mandate, Israel, Middle East, Palestine, Palestine Mandate, Zionism
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Yitzhak Epstein: The Hidden Question
In 1907 Yitzhak Epstein, a Russian-born teacher who had settled in Palestine, published an article entitled “The Hidden Question” in the Hebrew periodical Ha-Shiloah. Its subject was the attitude of the Jews toward the Arabs of Palestine. “Among the grave … Continue reading
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A line in the sand, by James Barr
James Barr’s A Line in the Sand: Britain, France and the Struggle That Shaped the Middle East is here reviewed by Ibrahim Hewitt in an interview by Stephen Sizer http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=dvBFgngXz3M Other reviews of James Barr’s book include: Max Hastings in the Sunday … Continue reading
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Tagged 1915, 1916, 1917, British Mandate, First World War, McMahon, Ottomans, Sykes Picot, Syria
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Britain’s legacy to the tortured Ottoman Empire
Selfish imperial agreements between Britain and France, combined with the publication of the contradictory Balfour Declaration of 1917, fuelled hostilities in the Middle East This article appeared in The Sunday Telegraph on 2 February 2013 Bad times ahead: Sir Edmund … Continue reading
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Tagged Allenby, Balfour Declaration, First World War, French, McMahon, Middle East, Palestine, Picot, Sykes, Sykes Picot, Syria
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Setting the Desert on Fire. Book Review
James Barr, Setting the Desert on Fire: T.E.Lawrence and Britain’s’ Secret War in Arabia, (London: Bloomsbury 2006) This book does not fit easily into any one category: it is dramatic, a thrilling account of the last struggles of the Ottoman … Continue reading
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Tagged Arab Revolt, Arabs, Faisal, Hussein Ibn Ali, Middle East, Peace Conference, Picot, Sykes Picot
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Anti-Zionism in London’s Jewish East End, 1890-1948
Anti-Zionism in London’s Jewish East End, 1890-1948 A summary of Chapter 6 with this title in Brian Klug’s: Being Jewish and Doing Justice: Bringing Argument to Life, Vallentine Mitchell (2010) Brian Klug, being a philosopher, approaches this subject from a … Continue reading
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Tagged 1890, anti-semitism, Anti-Zionism, Ben-Gurion, Claude Montefiore, Communism, London's East End, Montagu, Zionism
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Contradictory Promises
See also Contradictory Promises by Dr Peter Shambrook where these promises are explored in more detail. A second analysis by Dr. Shambrook is here : Britain’s Policy of Deceit 1915 The McMahon-Hussein Correspondence, • In 1915 Britain promised the Arabs … Continue reading
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Tagged 1915, 1916, 1917, 1918, 1922, Anglo-French Declaration, Balfour Declaration, British Mandate, Broken promises, Hussein Ibn Ali, McMahon, McMahon Hussain, Palestine Mandate, Sykes Picot
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Britain’s Secret Re-Assessment of the Balfour Declaration.
The Perfidy of Albion by Prof. John Quigley*President’s Club Professor in Law, Moritz College of Law,The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, United States of America From the Journal of the History of International LawRevue d’histoire du droit internationalVolume 13, Number … Continue reading
Healing the Wounds of History: Looking at the Balfour Declaration with New Eyes
Second annual Balfour Project conference to mark the 96th anniversary of the Balfour Declaration October 30th 2013
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Tagged 1917, 1922, 19th Century, Balfour, Balfour Declaration, First World War, Herbert Samuel, Palestine, restorationism
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Powerful symbols and the British-Zionist alliance: approaching the centenary of the Balfour Declaration by Nur Masalha
Masalha writes that as the centenary of the Balfour Declaration approaches it is timely for a reassessment of the impact of the statement and British policies towards Palestine and its indigenous people. The Declaration is commonly attributed incorrectly to … Continue reading
Reasons for the Balfour Declaration.
It is commonly claimed that the Balfour Declaration was issued because of war time needs, such as getting America in the war or, keeping control of the Suez Canal and the route to India. These were the reasons given during … Continue reading
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Tagged Balfour, Balfour Declaration, Christian Zionism, First World War, Lloyd George, Palestine, restorationism, Weizmann
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Recommendations of the King Crane Commission
Below is a part of a preface to the publication of the King-Crane Commission Report, published in Editor & Publisher, V.55, No. 27, 2nd Section, December 2, 1922. This is followed by their recommendations on Syria and particularly Zionism. The … Continue reading
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Tagged 1915, 1916, 1917, 1918, Balfour Declaration, King Crane, Palestine, Palestine Mandate, President Wilson, Zionism
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Wartime contingency and the Balfour Declaration of 1917 William Mathew: an Improbable Regression
Review by Mary Grey Although for many Jews this Declaration represented a dramatic re-entry of Jews into history, this article argues that it was more a regression than an advance. True, the Balfour Declaration promised to protect the civil and … Continue reading
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Tagged 1917, Asquith, Balfour Declaration, Curzon, Lloyd George, Lord Curzon, McMahon, Montagu, Palestine, Weizmann
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The Balfour Declaration and the Palestine Mandate, 1917–1923: British Imperialist Imperatives
By William M. Mathew ABSTRACT The article sets the Balfour Declaration of 1917 and the final confirmation of Britain’s Palestine Mandate in 1923 within the context of national imperial concerns: in particular, anxieties over the security of the Suez Canal … Continue reading
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Tagged 1917, 1922, Balfour Declaration, British Mandate, First World War, Lloyd George, Lord Curzon, McMahon, Middle East, Palestine, Sykes Picot, Weizmann
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Evaluating the Balfour Declaration: Breaking the Deadlock in the Middle East
A one day conference exploring the different legacies of the Balfour Declaration and how a greater understanding of history can contribute to justice and peace in the Middle East today was held in Winchester University on May 18th 2013. Over … Continue reading
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Tagged anti-semitism, Balfour, Balfour Declaration, Christian Zionism, Curzon, Herzl, Lloyd George, Lord Curzon, Middle East, Rothschild, Sykes Picot
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Balfour and Palestine, a legacy of deceit, by Anthony Nutting
Anthony Nutting resigned from Anthony Eden’s government when he found Eden was going into Suez. Writing around 1975, he reflects on Doreen Ingram’s book “The Palestine Papers: 1917-1922: Seeds of Conflict”. The papers in this book made clear that during … Continue reading
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Tagged 1917, 1918, 1920, 1922, Balfour Declaration, Edwin Montagu, Lord Curzon, Rothschild, Sykes
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‘Perfidious Albion? The British Legacy in Palestine’ – Prof. Ilan Pappe
Prof Ilan Pappe spoke at the Kenyon Institute in Jerusalem 17th September 2012 on the topic ‘Perfidious Albion? The British Legacy in Palestine’ .
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Tagged 19th Century, Balfour, Balfour Declaration, Brightman, Hussein Ibn Ali, Palmerston, restorationism, Shaftesbury, Zionism
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19th Century Anti-Semitism and the Zionist Movement
by Dan Cohn Sherbok By the last decades of the nineteenth century the European Jewish community had attained a high degree of emancipation. Nevertheless political conditions in Europe after 1870 brought about considerable disruption: several proud and independent nations emerged … Continue reading
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Tagged 1881, 19th Century, anti-semitism, Herzl, Jew, Russia
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Britain’s betrayal of the sacred trust in Palestine, Prof John Dugard
British policy towards Palestine for the past 100 years has been informed by two narratives, two visions. The first is the vision of a Jewish state in Palestine, captured in the Balfour Declaration of 1917. The second is the … Continue reading